Home and Office

Things have settled down a bit here in Harrisonburg. The JMU Math Department has now nestled in to its new digs in the appallingly named, but otherwise attractive, Roop Hall. Sadly, my office currently has no shelves on the walls, a state affairs I expect to persist for several more weeks. So much of my stuff is still in boxes. Sigh.

Meanwhile, Operation: American Dream proceeds apace. Contracts have been signed, mortgage applications completed, title companies notified. Tomorrow morning comes the building inspector. Hopefully he will have only nice things to say.

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In light of the events today at Virginia Tech, I'm suddenly not in the mood to talk about framing, or Imus, or the Pope's statement on evolution. At this point the death toll is up to thirty-three people.
Blacksburg, VA, where Tech is located, is a roughly two-hour drive from my home in…

This Monday, February 12, I will be giving a talk to the JMU Freethinker's Club on the subject of evolution and creationism. The talk will be from 7:00-8:00 in room 303, Taylor Hall on the James Madison University campus. If you live anywhere Harrisonburg, VA, stop on by!
Then, on Saturday,…

Mr. Speaker! The Preznit of the Untied States of America.
Congresscritters, esteemed Cabinet members and other besuited Washingtonians, I stand before you to tell you that the state of the union is … tolerable. After all, there'll be an election in November, and then it'll all be someone else's…

Jason, I've been reading your site for several months now and this is the first time I noticed you were a professor at JMU, my undergraduate alma matter (Class of '91!) I used to live in Ashby Hall my junior year.

Anyway, like your posts. Like them even more knowing they are posted in deepest, darkest rural Virginia...

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Folks, I'm done.
A recent story in the news involves the decision by FIDE, the world chess federation, to hold the Women's World Championship in Iran. That's a bit awkward, since Iran imposes certain religion-inspired dress requirements on women. This has led some players, most notably the…

Better late than never! A small technical SNAFU yesterday interfered with the well-oiled machine that is Problem of the Week. But now we're back on track! The fourth problem has now been posted. The official solution to last week's problem will be up by tomorrow.

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Kevin Drum has a short post noting that Trump has taught other Republican politicians how to lie more brazenly. Politicians have never been noted for their honesty, but we are seeing something new this time around. It is very aggravating that Trump simply makes it up as he goes along, while…

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A reader emailed me a fun question from a physics exam he took, along these lines:
A car driver going at some speed v suddenly finds a wide wall at a distance r. Should he apply brakes or turn the car in a circle of radius r to avoid hitting the wall?
My first thought was that surely the question wasn't doable without more information, but it turns out that we do have enough to give a…

Blair Wolf is an associate professor of biology at the University of New Mexico. Research in the Wolf lab focuses on the natural history and ecophysiology of desert animals. He agreed to blog with Dr. Dolittle on the topic of birds. Here are excerpts from their exchange.
Dr. Dolittle: What made you interested in studying the effects of Australian heat waves on bird populations?
Dr. Wolf:…

"By now you must know that your father can never be turned from the Dark Side. So will it be with you." -Emperor Palpatine, Return of the Jedi
You've heard about dark matter. It's the notion that the Universe is somehow very much different than the small corner of it that we're most familiar with.
Photo credit: International Astronomical Union, retrieved from bbc.co.uk.
When we look at our…